US users of Facebook Inc. those voting on voting may soon begin to look at fact-checking notes added to their announcements about the Nov. 3 presidential election.
The addendum will refer to a new voter information hub similar to the one about COVID-19 that Facebook says has been seen by billions of people worldwide. The labels will read, “Visit the Voting Information Center for Election Resources and Official Updates.” Facebook expects the voter hub to reach at least 160 million people in the US
It’s Facebook’s FB,
last stick to combat traffic-related misinformation, building a movement in July when the company began adding similar links to reports of balloting by federal politicians, including President Donald Trump.
“Facebook needs to do more to combat the disarmament of election and election misinformation and misinformation on its platform. Our democracy depends on it, “said Vanita Gupta, chief executive of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, in a statement calling the Voting Information Center a” welcome step. “
Facebook is making a concerted effort to address widespread criticism about how it treats misinformation around elections, among other topics. The antagonism sparked the company’s reluctance to control advertisements by politicians of factors, leading to a two-year review of its civil rights practices that condemned Facebook for abandoning the US election ‘exposed to interference by the president and others who want to use misinformation to sow confusion and suppress the voice. ”
Some of tech’s biggest companies, already under heat for their role in spreading false information during the 2016 presidential election, are taking steps to compare debt this year to a similar fate.
On Thursday, Google parent Alphabet Inc. GOOGL,
GOOG,
announced new features of Google Search that allow voters to focus on verified information when searching for “how to vote” or “how to register.” In addition, a new candidate information panel will appear when people search for federal or presidential candidates on YouTube.
Twitter Inc. TWTR,
has said it will develop tools, policies and partnerships to help users register and prepare for voting by mail, and find local early voting options. In January, the company created a feature that allows users to report voter reporting and misinformation.
Snap Inc. SNAP,
in the meantime, the tool ‘Voter Registration Mini’ has been unveiled, allowing users to register to vote directly in Snapchat. It also posted a ‘Voter Guide’ with information on topics such as votes by mail and voter registration.
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